Green’s Dictionary of Slang

to discomfit, to confuse; thus discombobulation n.

[1696		Motteux (trans.) Gargantua and Pantagruel (1927) II Bk IV 294: Oudart cursed and damned the wedding [...] complaining that one of the bums had utterly discornifistibulated his nether shoulder-blade].
1833		A. Greene Life and Adventures of Dr Dodimus Duckworth I 177: That way! well, then my head is turned about sure enough. That tarnal cider must a discomfoozled me.
1839		Spirit of the Times (NY) 16 Mar. 24/2: Finally, Richmond was obliged to trundle him, neck and heels, to the earth, to the utter discombobulation of his wig .
1851		D. Dudley Pictures of Life in England and America 234: Oh ! the un-boundless grease — hem! — grace of — of — the poor little child has somewhat discombobulated my ideas.
1860		Isle of Wight Obs. 14 Apr. 3/4: Our brother Jonathan thought they might as well take a drink; the idea was not catawampus, and as they had got a case of champagne [...] they proceeded to extermporise the same by discomboblificating the bottles of the case which enclosed them.
1864		J.F. Brobst letter in Brobst Well Mary, Civil War Letters 104: Over goes the kettle, beef and all, put out the fire and discombobligated things generally [...] Everything is upside down now.
1891		in Punch 28 Feb. 107: Oh, Canada, dear Canada, we shall not discombobulate / Ourselves concerning JONATHAN.
1895		Herald & Tribune (Jonesborough, TN) 5 June 2/4: White caps have appeared in the lower end of Sullivan county. They claim their mission is to discomfuddle men and women of low grade and purify the community.
1891		‘’Arry on Wheels’ in Punch 7 May 217/2: Don’t I jest discumfuddle the donas, and bosh the old buffers as prowl/ Along green country roads.
1898		Herald (Los Angeles) 16 Mar. 4/6: [headline] Discombobulation in San Diego.
1907		Tucumcari News (NM) 4 Jan. 12/1: Too much of a good thing will even discombobulate the alimentary intentions of a country editor.
1911		L. Pound ‘A Second Word-List From Nebraska’ in DN III:vii 542: discombobulation, n. Discomfiture, state of being upset, or much shaken. ‘That will cause much discombobulation,’ [...] There is also a verb, to discombobulate.
1918		Sun (NY) 1 Aug. The great duel between Vincent Gaffney in his underwear and the discombobulated police: .
1926		R. Frost Letters 11 Feb. (1964) 178: I put my own discombobulation first to lead up unnoticably to yours.
1943		I. Wolfert Tucker’s People (1944) 90: I hope I’m not discombobulating you.
1952		I. Bolton ‘Many Mansions’ in N.Y. Mosaic (1999) 413: Offsetting [...] and generally discombobulating all these odd had-beens and would-be’s were Mary Morrison and her queer friend Morty.
1962		R.P. Blackmur in Hubler et al. Riddle of Shakespeare’s Sonnets 138: The hues attract, draw, steal men’s eyes, but penetrate, discombobolate, amaze the souls or psyches of women.
1977		R. Coover Public Burning (1979) 592: We don’t need no more of your hissin’ and blowin’ and generally discombobulatin’ splutterations!
1987		J. Ciardi Good Words 92: Discombobulate. [...] To discomfit. To confuse [...] To flabber one’s ghasts.
1999		Indep. Rev. 6 Sept. 1: I’m very into ‘discombobulate’ [...] at the moment.
2014		Observer 13 Apr. 33/2: His story is also rather discombobulating for those on the reactionary right of his own party.
2018		I. Welsh Dead Man’s Trousers 20: Meeting Franco has [...] discombobulated me.
2024		J. Meades Empty Wigs (t/s) 238: [I]t was a matter that was hush hush and not to be mentioned because it discombobulated her.